I-65 sinkhole should be filled by end of next week (with video)

Traffic on Interstate 65 moves around excavators removing material from a sinkhole near Valleydale Road. Alabama Department of Transportation spokesman Tony Harris estimated they are at a depth of 40 feet and will likely dig about 10 feet deeper. (The Birmingham News/Frank Couch )

If all goes according to plan, by the end of next week the excavation of a sinkhole that has created a 40 foot deep, 70 foot wide, and 100 foot long crater in the median of Interstate 65 in Pelham will be complete and the enormous crater filled in, according to the Alabama Department of Transportation.

The sinkhole was discovered near Valleydale Road on July 1.

As of Friday 10,000 cubic yards of dirt had been hauled off, said Alabama Department of Transportation spokesman Tony Harris. Crews will work around the clock until the repairs are complete, Harris said.

Workers might have to dig down another 10 feet or so to get rid of that soil, Harris said. Once that is complete, tons of concrete and crushed rock will be brought in to fill the hole, he said.

Harris said it was impossible to give a cost estimate for the sinkhole work, which is being performed in the area of an ongoing interstate widening project on the bustling corridor.

"We won't know (how much the work will cost) until we know how far down we have to go and how much material we have to bring in," Harris said.

The sinkhole hasn't disrupted the widening work and is no longer slowing traffic, Harris said.

Soon after the sinkhole was discovered, there were some lanes closures in the area as the sinkhole was drilled to begin the repairs.

Harris said three lanes remain open in southbound lanes as they were shifted over to the treeline. All northbound lanes are open as well.

There have been late night lane closures in the area this week, but Harris said those were due to the ongoing construction and not the sinkhole.